In the field-of-view of the stele you can see the Rheinhessen Plateau of the Mainz Basin and the plains of the Rhine Rift. On the slope towards the southern edge of the Taunus you can see the small forest belonging to the Estate Nussberg and the Nussberg hill itself further uphill.

Just below this vineyard lies, somewhat hidden, the Lindenbach Valley. The stele has been placed on a remarkable geological feature, the so-called South Taunus Fault.

The South Taunus Fault is a mighty fault zone, stretching along the southern edge of the Taunus Mountains and separating the rocks of the Taunus from much younger sediments of the Mainz Basin and the Upper Rhine Rift in the south.

The South Taunus Fault marks the area where micro-continents collided with the northern continent Laurussia during the Palaeozoic Era about 320 million years ago. This collision created a mountain range whose remains can be seen in the Rhenic Slate and Taunus Mountains today.

The clays, sands and marls found in the lower regions are sediments of the Mainz Basin. During the Oligocene and Miocene (around 35–20 million years ago) the North Sea was connected to the Mediterranean via a shallow strait.

This sea also flooded the Mainz Basin. Fossil shark teeth and marine molluscs are a visible reminder of this marine inundation.

While the non-calcareous sediments were transported into the basin from the Taunus Mountains (“non-calcareous edge facies”), the fossil-rich beds between the limestone and clay marls were deposited in a marine environment.

The conspicuous spike in the landscape is the “Spitzer Stein“ (“Pointed Rock”) and is formed by a thick quartz vein, which has filled secondary faults in the Taunus. Quartz is extremely resistant to weathering and therefore juts out over the softer, now eroded rocks. The quartz vein that begins on the top of the “Spitzer Stein” is easily recognized in the geological profile.

The higher areas are composed of the rock phyllite and are part of the so-called “Northern Phyllite Zone”. This is a contact zone located between the South Taunus Fault and the sediments of the Mainz Basin in the south-east and the quartzites and slates of the Taunus Mountains in the north-west. The metamorphic rock phyllite was formed deep in the earth’s crust under high pressure and temperature. This caused the recrystalization of minerals such as chlorite, which gives this rock its distinctive greenish colour. The silken sheen of the rock is caused by another recrystalized mineral, muscovite.

The individual vineyards of Frauenstein have been joined to form the combined vineyard Herrnberg (51 ha). The higher and steeper areas of this site are covered by a stony soil with phyllite. In dry years these soils can cause water stress in the vines.
The soils of the lower regions are fertile and deep and have developed on weathered loess. However, these soils may vary from one patch to another as they are mixed with different sediments from the Tertiary Period: sand, marl or quartz gravel.
Such diversity in the vineyard soils is reflected in the wine. Soils with a high water retention capacity produce a full-bodied wine. Depending on the vintage and location the character of these wines may vary from possessing a fine bouquet with striking acidity to having a delicate, fine fruity acidity, steely acidity or a vegetal aroma. These wines age well and develop finesse and harmony.